Cold and Hot starts

[Andy]

I've been a Correct Craft owner for many years and love my boat. I have an 89 Barefoot Nautique w/ the 454 and Holley carb. It's great to have people admire the boat when we first walk down to the pier, only to have them coughing after I hit the key. Does any one have a solution to the black smoke at start up when cold? Then, after it it's warm and you shut it off for a bit, it's really hard to start. Acts flooded, although it doesn't appear to drip after I shut it off. It doesn't do this if you start it right away like after picking up a skier. Has anyone leveled out the carb on the engine to try to solve this? The angle of this carb is pretty severe at rest, I imagine it's worse at speed. Any solutions out there? Thanks.

[BigBald]

I had a similar "Hot start" issue on my 88 Ski back several years ago. It did it for about a month. Wouldn't want to start for a while until it cooled a bit...then it would crank. We finally figured out that we had a bad tank of gas....once we ran that gas out and refilled a couple times, the issue went away.

Not much help....sorry...

[Andy]

Thanks for the bad gas idea. I carry all my gas in, don't buy it on the lake, and run at least 89 octane all the time. I really think it's carb issue, but the local dealer and my auto mechanic can't come up a solution. I've been looking for a carb spacer (wedge plate) other than the one that came on the boat when I bought it new. I thought if I could level the carb more, it would run better and solve the problem. They don't seem to exist.

[81nautique]

I think you're on the right track with float levels but don't feel you need to get a spacer. Even though you say you can not see it dripping I think there is fuel getting into your engine at rest which tells me float level is wrong or a dirty needle and seat. That's why you get a bunch of black smoke when you first start or after it sits for a while. When you restart right after picking up a skier it's fine because it hasn't leaked that much back down yet.

Pull the bowls and check the float levels but I would think at the very least replace the needle and seat or if you have the means get the carb rebuilt.

[Andy]

It's now been suggested by a few friends that maybe the power valve is bad and leaking fuel ,or that maybe today's gasolines are quicker to boil so when the boat is hot, the fuel is boiling over. Anybody out there have any thoughts on these ideas?

[81nautique]

Andy, i don't think the boiling fuel theory will hold up or we'd all have the same problem. have you pulled the bowls yet and checked the float levels and needle/seats? A bad power valve is a bad power valve, you said your issue clears after the boats warms up so how does a broken rubber diaphram fix itself? I would go back to basics and pull the bowls. I think your problem is simple and a rebuild kit and tuning will fix it.

[Nautiqueman]

REbuild the carb, then let us know if you have the same problem. I did this on an 89 Martinique with the 351 Ford and it was an economical solution to the problem of black smoke and coughing.